The Maryland/Duke Drinking Game

[MurphDogg]

I refer you to Bill Simmons' rules for being a true fan

"If you're between the ages of 20-40, you're a fan of the Yankees, Cowboys, Braves, Raiders, Steelers, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Canadiens and/or Oilers, and you're not actually from those one of those cities ... well, you better have a reason that goes beyond "When I was picking a favorite team as a kid, they were the best team, so I picked them.

At least give me a reason like "Reggie Jackson was my favorite player growing up," or "I always liked the red Bulls uniforms," or even "Everyone in my gang wore Raiders colors." Do you really want to be known as a bona fide Bandwagon Jumper?"

If you don't think the Blue Devils belong in that group you are nuts.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I refer you to Bill Simmons' rules for being a true fan

If you don't think the Blue Devils belong in that group you are nuts.

Nice use of the real Sports Guy.

[mweb]

I refer you to Bill Simmons' rules for being a true fan

If you don't think the Blue Devils belong in that group you are nuts.

The 49ers should be on that list too.

[Sports Guy]

For the Terps fans....Not all of you went/or are going to COllege Park...So, why did you pick the Terps as your team? Why not GTown? Towson? Loyola? Coppin? Morgan? UMES?

[glenn__davis]

For the Terps fans....Not all of you went/or are going to COllege Park...So, why did you pick the Terps as your team? Why not GTown? Towson? Loyola? Coppin? Morgan? UMES?

First of all because MD is the state school. If I go somewhere wearing a Coppin State sweatshirt, noone will have any idea where that is.

Second, because MD plays at a high level of play. I'd much rather watch MD play against ACC-caliber opponents than watch Loyola play Hofstra or something like that.

Finally, this comparison doesn't hold water, because MD sucked while most of us were growing up, but we pulled for them anyway. No ones saying that you have to root for your state school, but to jump on the bandwagon of a good team when you're young still makes you a bandwagon jumper.

[mweb]

For the Terps fans....Not all of you went/or are going to COllege Park...So, why did you pick the Terps as your team? Why not GTown? Towson? Loyola? Coppin? Morgan? UMES?

Because I grew up in MD, and obviously UMD is the state school. GTown would have actually been the local bandwagon team when I was young. And I would root for any of those other schools, but I choose the state school, the one that's in a major conference and that I actually heard of. I probably didn't even know some of those schools existed when I was really young nor would I really be able to follow them on tv or the radio or whatever.

[mweb]

Here's my take on this, since I know you are all interested :002_sbiggrin:

I don't think there is anything wrong or unusual about SG rooting for Duke. The thing is, I don't think people appreciate when he talks as though Duke is his school and that he is like a die hard fan.

For example, I become a Lakers fan when they were on their run, but that doesn't mean I trash talk to Wizards fans if the Lakers beat them.

I really couldn't care less who SG roots for, but that's what I think the issue is here. I personally wouldn't want to root for a team if I didn't root for them as a die-hard fan would.

I don't think there's anything unusual about SG rooting for Duke, however I do think there is something wrong with it. It's basically the same as young baseball fans in MD picking the Yankee's as their team because they're the premier franchise and the O's have been bad for a long time.

I agree with much of the rest of your post, I think a lot of people don't care for someone who grew up in MD, and didn't go to Duke talking trash to MD fans after Duke wins or because Duke is a better program or whatever.

So like Ravenbird said, he jumped on the Laker bandwagon, is willing to admit that and doesn't talk trash to Wizards fans about it. That's more acceptable, although still not totally acceptable imo.:002_stongue:

[Sports Guy]

I don't think there's anything unusual about SG rooting for Duke, however I do think there is something wrong with it. It's basically the same as young baseball fans in MD picking the Yankee's as their team because they're the premier franchise and the O's have been bad for a long time.

I agree with much of the rest of your post, I think a lot of people don't care for someone who grew up in MD, and didn't go to Duke talking trash to MD fans after Duke wins or because Duke is a better program or whatever.

So like Ravenbird said, he jumped on the Laker bandwagon, is willing to admit that and doesn't talk trash to Wizards fans about it. That's more acceptable, although still not totally acceptable imo.:002_stongue:

Was Duke the MD rival in 1988?

[Sports Guy]

First of all because MD is the state school. If I go somewhere wearing a Coppin State sweatshirt, noone will have any idea where that is.

Second, because MD plays at a high level of play. I'd much rather watch MD play against ACC-caliber opponents than watch Loyola play Hofstra or something like that.

Finally, this comparison doesn't hold water, because MD sucked while most of us were growing up, but we pulled for them anyway. No ones saying that you have to root for your state school, but to jump on the bandwagon of a good team when you're young still makes you a bandwagon jumper.

So, you(and others) root for the better team, the team with the most exposure and the team that you had "heard of"..These are some of the ideas that have been portrayed to me....Hmmmmmm, seems like a bandwagon idea there to me, just a bandwagon of your state team.

BTW, i fully admit that i jumped on Duke when they were good(just so happened to be when i started watchign college bball)...But really, i am not even sure why it matters to any of you. Also, as i said, it is like MD was any kind of rival for Duke at the time. I am not sure if any of you had a hatred for Duke in 1988 beyond them just being an ACC team.

Also, wasn't MD on probation in the late 80's or did that not happen until the early 90s?

[BaltimoreTerp]

Was Duke the MD rival in 1988?

Are you talking trash in 2006?

[Mackus]

Does it really matter why someone decides to become a fan of a certain team?

My only problem with "fandom" comes when somebody jumps ship and becomes a fan of another team. I think that is unnacceptable and the jumper has no right to claim being a true fan of their new team.

SG clearly didn't jump off of any other bandwagon to become a Duke fan; they just happened to be the best program at the time. Apparently as an 8 year old he either had no ability to recognize evil or was quite comfortable cheering for it, but I certainly don't consider him any less of a fan of the team because he has no direct ties.

I do think its BS (and I constantly call him out on it) when he starts getting into arguments about Duke's academics. He has no reason to talk about Duke as a better university than any other (and it certainly isn't any better than Maryland - at least in my discipline).

[mweb]

Was Duke the MD rival in 1988?

Is the Yankees the O's rival now? Not sure your point here, it's the same thing, the O's are a bottom dweller now in the same division as the Yanks just as the Terps were a bottom dweller back then in the same conference as Duke.

[Sports Guy]

I do think its BS (and I constantly call him out on it) when he starts getting into arguments about Duke's academics. He has no reason to talk about Duke as a better university than any other (and it certainly isn't any better than Maryland - at least in my discipline).

I do not think MD has ever been rated as high(or higher) than any ivy league school....Perhaps in certain programs but not as a university as a whole.

But really, i could care less about the academics because i think it is all bs anyway. College is college...Certain schools are better than other in certain area(like MD with engineering) but for the most part, it is the same just more work.

Now, Duke does usually have a smarter team IMO and i think many people would back that idea.

[BaltimoreTerp]

So, you(and others) root for the better team, the team with the most exposure and the team that you had "heard of"..These are some of the ideas that have been portrayed to me....Hmmmmmm, seems like a bandwagon idea there to me, just a bandwagon of your state team.

I guess we are all bandwagon Orioles fans then right?

BTW, i fully admit that i jumped on Duke when they were good(just so happened to be when i started watchign college bball)...But really, i am not even sure why it matters to any of you. Also, as i said, it is like MD was any kind of rival for Duke at the time. I am not sure if any of you had a hatred for Duke in 1988 beyond them just being an ACC team.

It matters because you are talking trash now, in a Maryland forum, as a Duke fan. You could easily stay out of here, but choose to do the opposite, so you make it our business.

[Sports Guy]

Is the Yankees the O's rival now? Not sure your point here, it's the same thing, the O's are a bottom dweller now in the same division as the Yanks just as the Terps were a bottom dweller back then in the same conference as Duke.

Because you guys make it sound like i jumped on Duke 5-10 years ago, when the rivalry really got started and that is not true.

To compare the history of these schools to the history of the O's and Yanks is a joke BTW.

Also, if i was a true bandwagon fan, i would have jumped off the year K had the surgery and they were awful and then jumped back on when they were good again.